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¹And the LORD sent Nathan [the prophet] to David. He came and said to him, "There were two men in a city, one rich and the other poor.

²"The rich man had a very large number of flocks and herds,

³But the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb Which he had purchased and nourished; And it grew up together with him and his children. It ate his food, drank from his cup, it lay in his arms, And was like a daughter to him.

⁴"Now a traveler (visitor) came to the rich man, And to avoid taking one from his own flock or herd To prepare [a meal] for the traveler who had come to him, He took the poor man's ewe lamb and prepared it for his guest."

⁵Then David's anger burned intensely against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die.

⁶He shall make restitution for the ewe lamb four times as much [as the lamb was worth], because he did this thing and had no compassion."

⁷Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'I anointed you as king over Israel, and I spared you from the hand of Saul.

⁸I also gave you your master's house, and put your master's wives into your care and under your protection, and I gave you the house (royal dynasty) of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have given you much more!

⁹Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife. You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

¹⁰Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.'

¹¹Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will stir up evil against you from your own household; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.

¹²Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight.'"

¹³David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has allowed your sin to pass [without further punishment]; you shall not die.

¹⁴Nevertheless, because by this deed you have given [a great] opportunity to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme [Him], the son that is born to you shall certainly die."

¹⁵Then Nathan went [back] to his home. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's widow bore to David, and he was very sick.

¹⁶David therefore appealed to God for the child [to be healed]; and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.

¹⁷The elders of his household stood by him [in the night] to lift him up from the ground, but he was unwilling [to get up] and would not eat food with them.

¹⁸Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. David's servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, "While the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he would not listen to our voices. How then can we tell him the child is dead, since he might harm himself [or us]?"

¹⁹But when David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he realized that the child was dead. So David said to them, "Is the child dead?" And they said, "He is dead."

²⁰Then David got up from the ground, washed, anointed himself [with olive oil], changed his clothes, and went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he came [back] to his own house, and when he asked, they set food before him and he ate.

²¹Then his servants said to him, "What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive you fasted and wept, but when the child died, you got up and ate food."

²²David said, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I thought, 'Who knows, the LORD may be gracious to me and the child may live.'

²³But now he is dead; why should I [continue to] fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him [when I die], but he will not return to me."

²⁴David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went to her and lay with her; and she gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. And the LORD loved the child;

²⁵and He sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him Jedidiah (beloved of the LORD) for the sake of the LORD [who loved the child].

²⁶Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal city.

²⁷Joab sent messengers to David and said, "I have fought against Rabbah; I have even taken the city of waters.

²⁸So now, assemble the rest of the men, and camp against the city and capture it, or I will take the city myself, and it will be named after me."

²⁹So David gathered all the men together and went to Rabbah, then fought against it and captured it.

³⁰And he took the crown of their king from his head; it weighed a talent of gold, and [set in it was] a precious stone; and it was placed on David's head. And he brought the spoil out of the city in great amounts.

³¹He also brought out the people who were there, and put them to [work with] the saws and sharp iron instruments and iron axes, and made them work at the brickkiln. And he did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the men returned to Jerusalem.

¹It happened afterwards that Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar, and Amnon [her half brother] the son of David was in love with her.

²Amnon was so frustrated because of his [half-] sister Tamar that he made himself sick, for she was a virgin, and Amnon thought it impossible for him to do anything to her.

³But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother; and Jonadab was a very shrewd (cunning) man.

⁴He said to Amnon, "Why are you, the king's son, so depressed morning after morning? Will you not tell me?" And Amnon said to him, "I am in love with Tamar, my [half-] brother Absalom's sister."

⁵Jonadab said to him, "Go to bed and pretend you are sick; and when your father [David] comes to see you, say to him, 'Just let my sister Tamar come and serve me food, and let her prepare it in my sight, so that I may see it and eat it from her hand.'"

⁶So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick; and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, "Please let my sister Tamar come and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, so that I may eat from her hand."

⁷Then David sent word to the house for Tamar, saying, "Go now to your brother Amnon's house, and prepare some food for him."

⁸So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house, and he was in bed. And she took dough and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and baked them.

⁹She took the pan and dished them out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, "Have everyone leave me." So everyone left him [except Tamar].

¹⁰Then Amnon said to Tamar, "Bring the food into the bedroom, so that I may eat from your hand." So Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them into the bedroom to her [half-] brother Amnon.

¹¹When she brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said, "Come, lie with me, my sister."

¹²She replied, "No, my brother! Do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this disgraceful thing!

¹³As for me, how could I get rid of my shame and disgrace? And you, you will be considered one of the fools in Israel. So now, just speak to the king [about taking me as your wife], for he will not withhold me from you."

¹⁴But he would not listen to her; and since he was stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.

¹⁵Then Amnon became extremely hateful toward her, for his hatred toward her was greater than the love which he had for her. And Amnon said to her, "Get up and get out!"

¹⁶But she said, "No, because this wrong of sending me away is worse than the other that you have done to me!" But he would not listen to her.

¹⁷Instead, he called his young man who was his personal servant and said, "Now throw this woman out of my presence and bolt the door behind her."

¹⁸Now Tamar was wearing a [long-sleeved] robe of various colors; for that is how the virgin daughters of the king dressed themselves in robes. Then Amnon's personal servant took her out and bolted the door behind her.

¹⁹So Tamar put dust on her head [in grief] and tore the long-sleeved robe which she had on, and she put her hand on her head and went away crying out [for help].

²⁰So her brother Absalom said to her, "Has your brother Amnon been with you? But now keep silent, my sister; he is your brother; do not take this matter to heart." So Tamar remained secluded in her brother Absalom's house.

²¹Now when King David heard about all these things, he was very angry [but failed to take any action].

²²But Absalom did not speak to Amnon either good or bad; for Absalom hated Amnon because he had violated his sister Tamar.

²³Now it came about after two full years that Absalom had sheepshearers at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king's sons [to a party].

²⁴Absalom came to [his father] the king and said, "Behold, your servant has sheepshearers; please let the king and his servants go with your servant."

²⁵But the king said to Absalom, "No, my son, we should not all go, for we will be a burden to you." Although Absalom [strongly] urged David, still he would not go, but he gave him his blessing.

²⁶Then Absalom said, "If not, then at least let my brother Amnon go with us." And the king said to him, "Why should he go with you?"

²⁷But Absalom urged him [again], and he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him.

²⁸Now Absalom commanded his servants, "Notice carefully, when Amnon's heart is joyous with wine, and when I say to you, 'Strike Amnon,' then kill him. Do not be afraid; have I not commanded you myself [and in doing so have I not taken full responsibility for his death]? Be courageous and brave."

²⁹So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon just as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons got up, and every man mounted his mule and fled.

³⁰Now it happened while they were on the way [back home], that the [exaggerated] report came to David, "Absalom has killed all the king's sons, and not one of them is left."

³¹Then the king stood and tore his clothes and lay on the ground [in mourning]; and all his servants were standing by with their clothes torn.

³²But Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother, responded, "Do not let my lord assume that all the king's sons have been put to death; for only Amnon is dead. This act of revenge has been on Absalom's mind since the day Amnon violated his sister Tamar.

³³So now, do not let my lord the king take the report to heart that all the king's sons are dead; for Amnon alone is dead."

³⁴Now Absalom fled. And the young man who kept watch looked up, and behold, many people were coming from the road behind him by the side of the mountain.

³⁵And Jonadab said to the king, "Look, the king's sons are coming. It has turned out just as your servant said."

³⁶And when he finished speaking, the king's sons came, and they raised their voices and wept; and the king and all his servants also wept very bitterly.

³⁷But Absalom fled and went to [his mother's father] Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day.

³⁸So Absalom fled and went to Geshur, and was there for three years.

³⁹And the heart of King David longed to go to Absalom; for he was comforted regarding Amnon, since he was dead.